Location Scouting...

So, a friend of ours noted that we have a HUGE advantage in knowing our date and planning a wedding so far in advance and suggested that we book our ceremony and reception sites PRONTO.

After we finished laughing and realized she was serious, we looked at each other seriously and started working on our guest list to get an idea of how many people we were talkin'. Then, we told our parents to put together their guest lists. :-/

Before we knew it, my proposed "100 guests, small and intimate" had bloomed to a full grown "250 guests, let's get it poppin'!"

The Man and I knew it was going to be September, and he had an inkling that, due to my obsession with things yellow, I was going to lean toward that for color scheming. In an effort to not dominate the colors (saffron and pewter) I suggested we add a touch of burgundy for depth, and after asking me if it was cool if he donned a burgundy and gold Washington Redskins cap for some of the wedding photos (of course, I was cool with this!), our colors were finalized!

Next came our discussion of what we wanted in a venue. The criteria wasn't too difficult. The Man loves simplicity and clean, modern lines. I could work with that. I love rich, historic sites with artistic appeal that offer inspiration and awesome architecture. We narrowed it down (with the help of my awesome friends) to quite a few places including The University of Maryland's Alumni Center (not historic, but my alma mater and the architecture is clean-lined and simple); the National Museum of Women in the Arts (need I say more?); the Strathmore (fanTAStic design); and the Great Room at Savage Mill.

We both absolutely LOVED the Great Room. Set in a refurbished old textile mill , the Great Room was a wide open blank palette with raw highlights. The broad skylight filters natural light into the room and fills the area where the dance floor would lay. The large, elegant windows offer a certain regal charm to the entire space. After seeing photos of the room transformed for an event, the Man and I were SOLD! I was so excited as I told my friends who'd been hunting for me: We finally found a space and they are giving us the right of first refusal!

One of our biggest concerns was the cost of catering. This caused us to have to make some cuts to the guest list (which hurts me deeply) in order to bring the numbers down (caterers charge "per plate"). With the Great Room, the sole caterer was reasonably priced and had terrific reviews throughout the web.

And, then...after all of that...last week....he sent me THIS. And what baffles me is that he KNOWS me well enough to know how naturally indecisive I am. For him to add another option, completely confusing me and leaving me bewildered...well, that's just incomprehensible.

Buuuuut......Westminster Hall was PERFECT for us! It has the history we both were looking for (Edgar Allen Poe is buried there)...the old century architecture that I fondly admire...and we can have both the ceremony and the reception in the same place. And on top of all of that, they have 30+ caterers listed, including Putting on the Ritz (the company that the Great Room uses).

However, while the actual site is perfect, the location is a bit of a distance for some of our friends and relatives who live in and around DC and may not necessarily like the idea of travelling 45 minutes to an hour to get to downtown Baltimore (someone said that should help dwindle down our guest list! HA!).

Anyway, this is where we are now. Keep you posted!